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Summer Diversions to Fill the ‘Mad Men’ Void

The cast of “Mad Men,” including Jon Hamm, seated, who plays Don Draper. The coming season has been delayed.Credit
AMC

FOR the last four summers, Madison Avenue has been absorbed in “Mad Men,” the AMC series about the advertising industry in the 1960s. But a delay in production for the coming season means there are no new episodes until early next year.

How can fans, frustrated by the lengthy wait for Season Five, entertain themselves in the meantime, apart from watching previous episodes on DVD, iTunes or Netflix?

What follows is an informal guide to alternative summer pursuits for devotees of the intricately plotted world of Don Draper, all in a “Mad Men” vein.

TELEVISION The BBC America cable channel is offering a BBC drama series, “The Hour,” that is evocative of “Mad Men” despite being set in London in 1956 rather than Manhattan in the ’60s. “This narrative also unfolds through an amber haze of cigarette smoke, whiskey and social taboos,” Alessandra Stanley wrote in a review of “The Hour” in The New York Times. Also, two broadcast networks are planning series for the 2011-12 season that will take place during the “Mad Men” era: “Pan Am,” on ABC, about employees and customers of Pan American World Airways, and “The Playboy Club,” on NBC, about employees and members of Hugh Hefner’s hideaways.

The films on TCM are “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?,” a send-up of celebrity endorsement; “It Should Happen to You,” with a billboard on Columbus Circle in a leading role; “A Letter to Three Wives,” which mocks advertisers and the soap operas they sponsor; and “Callaway Went Thataway,” a spoof of stars who lend their likenesses to licensed merchandise.

And aficionados of “Mad Men” know that its creator, Matthew Weiner, has cited the 1960 film “The Apartment,” about office life in midcentury Manhattan, as an influence on the series. It, too, is worth seeing.

BROADWAY Two musicals now running on Broadway occur during the “Mad Men” period. Advertising even figures in the plot of one, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

In “How to Succeed,” the climb up the corporate ladder of an ambitious young man named J. Pierrepont Finch, portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe, seems to falter when he becomes the new advertising manager of the make-believe World Wide Wicket Company. There is even a joke based on the name of the BBDO ad agency.

Photo

“Pan Am,” a new show on ABC, has a “Mad Men” flavor.Credit
Patrick Harbron/ABC

The other musical, “Catch Me If You Can,” about the young con man Frank Abagnale Jr., is steeped in the pop culture of the ’60s; the plot involves TV shows like “Dr. Kildare” and “Sing Along With Mitch.” And Abagnale, played by Aaron Tveit, pretends to be a pilot for Pan Am.

ONLINE Fans of “Mad Men” could easily while away the hours on the Internet until next season. For instance, there are myriad video clips on YouTube of television commercials from the ’60s, including such howlers as a spot for Winston cigarettes with the animated cast of “The Flintstones.” Another recommended clip is by an illustrator, Paul Rogers, who has reimagined the opening credits for “Mad Men” in the graphic style of movies and TV shows of the era. The soundtrack features an appropriate tune, the 1961 instrumental version of “One Mint Julep” by Ray Charles.

SHOPPING When the going gets tough, anyone devoted to “Mad Men” could go to a Banana Republic store or bananarepublic.com, where they could browse an assortment of men’s and women’s clothing based on the wardrobes of the characters on “Mad Men.”

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The 65 items in the so-called capsule collection, which was introduced this month, have branded labels bearing the logos of both Banana Republic, part of Gap Inc., and “Mad Men.”

Once fans are out shopping, they may also like to shop for furniture in or inspired by the “midcentury modern” look seen on the series. In addition to stores that carry actual vintage furniture, some national chains sell pieces reminiscent of the period.

For instance, Crate & Barrel has a sofa, the Petrie, that would not seem out of place in the Time & Life Building office of the “Mad Men” ad agency, Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce.

The sofa’s name is a wink to a favorite ’60s sitcom, “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” in which Mr. Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore played Rob and Laura Petrie — a couple whose blissful domestic life in New Rochelle was a far cry from that of Don Draper and his wife, Betty, in another Westchester town, Ossining.

A version of this article appears in print on August 22, 2011, on Page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Summer Diversions to Fill the ‘Mad Men’ Void. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe